Feeding mechanism for sheet material



Jan. 7, 1930. E. HOUGHTON FEEDING MECHANISM FOR SHEET MATERIAL Filed March 26', 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet ATTORN EY Jan. 7, 1930. E. HOUGHTON 1,742,445

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR SHEET MATERIAL Filed March 26, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR FcZm/afid HOLLj/LZO/Z Aw ATTO'RVNEY I Jan. 7, 1930. E. HOUGHTON 1,742,445

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR SHEET MATERIAL Filed March 26, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR Fail ward x70 ay/Fzio BY W Z12; ATTORNEY Jan. 7, 1930. E. HOUGHTON 1,742,445

FEEDING MECHANISM FOR SHEET MATERIAL Filed March 26, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 -INVENTOR Edwcwa? Houy 550/1,

Z11: ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 7, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FEEDING MECHANISM FOR SHEET MATERIAL Application filed March 2c, 1928. Serial No. 264,816.

The present invention relates to feeding mechanisms for sheet material. An object of the invention is to provide a novel construction which will permit the delivery by gravity of sheets of material one at a time from the bottom of a stack.

To this, and other ends, the invention consists of certain parts and combinations of parts all of which will be hereinafter cle- 1o scribed: the novel features being pointed out.

in the appended claims.

In the drawings: r Fig. 1 is a view in elevation of the cabinet with the front wall removed showing the 15. feeding mechanism enclosed;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the cabinet, showing. the feeding mechanism in side elevation;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3, Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line l l, Fig. 5;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5-5, Fig. 2' looking in a downward direction;

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 55, Fig. 2

looking upwardly at the stack holding, means 5 Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the stack holding means; and

Fig. Sis a fragmentary section on the line 88, Fig. 6.

The invention, in this instance, is illustrat 1 ed in a vending machine which will deliver cards arranged within a cabinet to a point out side of the cabinet. In this embodiment, 1 indicates the rear wall of the cabinet,i2 the front wall and 3 the side walls. The cabinet has an interior compartment 4 which encloses the stack holding means.

The stack holding means, in this instance, comprises four uprights 5 of substantially W shape in cross section, these uprights being so arranged that elongated rectangular to the exterior of the casing by way of an opening 11 in the front wall of the casing.

With the end in view of retaining the stack in the stack holding means, and, at the same time, permitting the feeding .of the sheets from the bottom of the stack, one at a time, there is provided two means which alternately acts as feeders and retainers. ofv these means, in this instance, embodies two members 12, pivoted at 13 to the base member 7 and simultaneously controlled to engage the next lowest sheet piece in the stack to hold the stack against dropping through the opening 8 while the other of said means is being operated to release the lowest card in the stack so that the two means operate alternately to engage the next lowest card in the stack and hold said stack through said 7 card while the lowest card is released by the other means.

The alternate operation of the two feeding andretaining means may be effected in any suitable manner. In this instance, a motor 14: drives a shaft 15 onwhich are arranged two disk cams 16 and 17. Mounted to rock on opposite sides of the shaft 15 are two rock shafts 18 and 19. These rock shafts have respectively arms 20 and 21 provided with lateral projections, 22 and 23 engaging the cam disks 16 and 17 respectively. The shafts 18 and 19 also have arms 24 and 25 respectively which are pivotally connected to vertical slides 26 and 27. On these slides 26 and 27 are cross arms 28 and 29 respectively. The cross arm 28 has two links 30 pivoted thereto while the cross arms 29 has two links 31 pivoted thereto. The links 30 pivotally connect to crank ,arms 32 on the shafts of two of the pivoted retainers 12 arranged on opposite sides of the stack, while the links 31 connect Each .1

with crank arms 33 on the shaft of the other substantially the number of sheet pieces in the stack from the exterior of the chamber 4,

the chamber 4 having an opening 35 in its top wall through which an indicator slide 36 may operated. This slide is guided on a guideway 37 within the chamber 4 and is connected to the follower 34 by a flexible cable 38 secured at 39 to the follower, extending upwardly through the top of the stack holding means over a pulley 40 thence to a pulley 41, the pulleys 40 and 41 being supported on the top wall of the chamber From the pulley 41 the cable 38 passes about a pulley 42 on the indicating slide 36 and has its end anchored at 43 to the top wall of the chamber 4 on that side of the slide 36 opposite the side on which the pulley 41 is arranged. As

the follower 34 drops with the lowering of the stack, the slide is elevated and the indications 44 thereon glving appro imately the number of cards or sheet pieces remaining 1n the stack.

The operation of the invention will be understood from the foregoing but it may be summarized as follows. The stack holding means is filled or substantially filled with cards or sheets in cross relation, as illustrated in the drawings and the lowermost card is held by two of the retainers 12, as illustrated in Fig. 8. The motor 14 being started, first moves the other pair of retainers12'into engagement with the next lowest card in the stack, and, thereafter, those retainers that hold the lowest card in the stack, move from retaining position to drop such card by gravity onto the chute 12. Themotor is controlled in any suitable manner but preferably so that it automatically stops when two of the re-.

tainers are in engagement with the lowermost card in the pack and the other two retainers are away from retaining position. The motor 14 can be continuously operated so that the sheet devices will drop one at a time from the stack when the feeding means is used in other relations.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a sheet feeding mechanism the combination with a stack holding means having a bottom discharge, of two retaining means for sustaining the stack of sheets in said stack holding means, and means for operating said twomeans alternately to cause one of said two means to engage the next lowest sheet in the stack and the other to release the lowest sheet in the stack.

2. In a sheet feeding mechanism the combination with a stack holding means having a bottom discharge, of two retaining means for sustaining the stack of sheets in said stack.

holding means, each of said means comprising two retainers and means connecting said two retainers to move said retainers simultaneously toward and from retaining position, and means for operating said two retaining means alternately to cause the retainers of one to engage the next lowest sheet in the stack and the retainers of the other to reach the lowest sheet in the stack.

3. In a sheet feeding mechanism the combination with a stack holding means having a bottom discharge, of two retaining means for sustaining the stack of sheets in said holding stack means, each of said retainin means comprising two pivoted retainers; an means for moving the retainers comprising two slides, two links pivoted to each slide and to two of the retainers at points eccentric to the pivots of said retainers, and means for operating said slides alternately to cause two of theretainers to engage the next lowest sheet in the stack and the other two retainers-to release the lowest sheet in the stack. H

4. In a sheet feeding mechanism the combination with a stack holding means having a bottom discharge, of two retaining means for sustaining thestack of sheets in said stack holding means, each of said retaining means comprising two movable retainers, and means for moving said two retaining means comprising two slides each connected totwo of the retainers, two rock shafts eachihaving two arms, one of saidarms being connected to one of the slides, an operating shaft,'and two cams on the operating shaft cooperating with the other arms on the rock shafts, one for each rock shaft. 1

5. A sheet feeding mechanism comprising a stack forming means having a bottom discharge, means for feeding the sheets one at a time through the discharge, an enclosing casing for the stack forming means, amovable indicator viewable from the exterior of the enclosing casing, a follower thesta-ck forming means, and a connection between the follower and the indicator for moving the indicator upwardly as the follower descends in the stack forming means.

6. In combination with a stack elongated EDWARD HoUeHToN. 

